Having received treatment for respiratory problems, the 72-year-old political pundit took to the hot seat after his summer break.

Fans of the show had been willing him to come back to work for the last month on social media.

And last night, they celebrated his return.

"He's baaaack," said one Twitter user.

"Great to see Vincent Browne back on air - looks as comically exasperated as ever with his panel!" said another.

Browne, who has respiratory health problems, previously said: “I’ve had bronchitis for years. I was told I had to do things about it and I didn’t do it. Eventually I had a bronchoscopy. I was warned in advance it could go wrong and cause trouble and it did.

“I still didn’t pay any attention. I got an infection and I got pneumonia as a consequence of this, and I didn’t realise I had pneumonia”.

Asked if he needed to work, Browne replied: “I do absolutely. I’d be in serious financial trouble, were it not for the fact that I’ve got this contract with TV3.”

Browne retured to some new faces on his production team after one of his leading team members, Lisa-Marie Berry, moved to a job in RTE.

Her departure follows the exit of two of Browne's producers in 2014, just months after joining the show. Betty Purcell, a former RTE producer, and Sean MacCarthaigh decided to resign in May of that year.